Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Green Lane Association on sustainable countryside access.

This Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring it is safe, inclusive, and appropriate including for people with reduced mobility. We are delivering on our ambitious manifesto commitment to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England. Further details will be shared later this year, following the Spending Review and the publication of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

Additionally, we are implementing key initiatives to increase access to green spaces, including the £33 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which aims to make protected landscapes, national trails, forests, and the wider countryside more inclusive and accessible.

Local authorities are responsible for maintaining rights of way in the area they are responsible for. They are required to publish and maintain a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) which must explain how improvements made by the local authority to the public rights of way network including restricted byways and byways open to all traffic will provide a better experience for all users including those with reduced mobility.

There have been no recent discussions with the Green Lane Association.